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“Chargers-Did They Do Enough”

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It was not sexy, but it seems solid.

It was not full of galaxy stars, but rather steady starters.

And so the San Diego Chargers have spent virtually all their free agent money, to bring in 5-veteran players to fill needs, patch holes, and hopefully help put this team back into the playoffs.

The signing of journeyman offensive lineman Matt Slauson is likely the last ‘name’ free agent move they are making. He is not a name in neon, but a name who is in the starting lineup every Sunday.

Slauson has been a non-stop starter in the offensive lines of the Bears and Jets for nearly six years straight. He is durable, tough, and a bit old school. The Bolts want him to move to center to be their short term starter, and to guide young USC draft pick Max Tuerk to become the center of the future.

San Diego was rated dead last in efficiency at center this past season. Everytime you looked, Trevor Robinson was getting pushed back. Not much pass protection there in the middle, little run blocking either.

Chris Watt, who has missed 15-games in two years, with 3-different injuries, probably goes back to insurance policy guard, where he played well at Notre Dame.

Add Slauson’s name to the list of the other acquisitions.

Casey Hayward comes from Green Bay where he was a starter. Tough guy corner, very competitive, and will play in the mix with the ailing Brandon Flowers.

Dwight Lowery has grown as a safety, and has proven himself, much with the Jets amongst other clubs. Veteran leadership, a hitter, a street-smart guy.

Ryan Benjamin survived the quarterback crisis in Cleveland, catching a ton of balls, and hauling kicks back. He fills a really critical need at both positions for the Chargers, complimenting Keenan Allen and the tight ends. Keeping him healthy is a key.

Brandon Mebane is a warrior. That’s the kind of guy you need to play at nose-tackle, take up space, make some tackles, push the pile. He might be the most productive nose tackle they have had since Jamal Williams, and that was a few first downs ago. It was a surprise the Seahawks let him go.

The Chargers free agent dollars seem well spent. Now they need to keep them healthy, on the field, and hope they have growth seasons from Joey Bosa, Mantei Teo, and another step forward season from Melvin Ingram and Jerry Attaochu.

Win as a team, without many stars on defense. Get better on offense to support your star quarterback, Philip Rivers.

You better hope Tom Telesco is right, because he’s wasted alot of money on free agents in his three years as GM.

Nothing sexy with these free agent signings. Maybe solid and steady.

Did they do enough. Yes, compared to the garbage we were forced to watch last year.

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“Kentucky Derby-A Special Saturday”

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Close your eyes and you can see the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs. Listen closely and you can hear the sound of the opening of the gates at the beginning of the race, or the pounding of the horses hooves on the dirt rounding the final turn.

Feel the electricity in the crowd as they race for home. Smell the Mint Juleps everywhere. See the beauty of the bed of roses placed on the winner. View the beauty of the women in hts, the parties on the infeld.

It is the specialness of this Saturday at the Kentucky Derby, the ‘Run for the Roses’..

We have seen greatness out of the gates, from the recent Triple Crown superstar American Pharoh, to the great horse the year before California Chrome.

We remember the sprint to the finish line of the stunning upset winner of all time Mine-the-Bird.

We remember the power of Big Brown, the personality of Smarty Jones, the greatness of War Emblem.

History will never let us forget the storyline of American Colors, the excitement of Spectacular Bid, Affirmed, Seattle Slew.

Nor will the record book ever let go of the greatest race of all time, Secretariat, and that record time of (1:59:40).

The jockeys and their colors forever etched in our mind, Eddie Arcaro, Billy Shoemaker, Eddie Hartack. Then as great as now with the likes of Gary Stevens and Kent Desormeaux and the courageous Ron Turcotte. Respecting the self made men like Calvin Borel and others.

From trainers like our icon Bob Baffert to the legendary DeWayne Lukas, we never forget the fouders of the horse breeding industry, Calument Farms.

And of course there is the signature theme ‘My Old Kentucky Home’, as much a fabric of Americana as the Indy 500’s ‘Back Home in Indiana’ or Frank Sinatra’s ‘New York-New York’ at Yankees Stadium.

Tomorrow will always be the best.

The Kentucky Derby, 2-minutes of horse racing, and memories of a life time.

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“Miracle Mets”

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It’s so much fun reading the New York tabloid newspapers, the Daily News and the Post. Forever the sky is falling, everyday, around all there teams.

The Mets come to town to face the Padres with a loaded pitching staff, booming bats, and having accomplished what those tabloid guys said was impposble, just two short years ago, make the franchise relevant again.

The Mets roll in with a (17-8) record, having won 13-of-16. This after last year’s enormous run to the postseason, and arrival, ahead-of-schedule, to play in the World Series.

To read the tabloids the last two years, ‘woe is us’. They didn’t like Sandy Alderson’s GM-leadership. They didn’t like ownership cutting the payroll from the 130M range into the 90M bracket. The Mets were no longer a free agent player, therefore no longer relevant, to be on the back pages of the papers. And there was the Wilpon family, and its ties to imprisoned Bernie Madoff, and whether Sterling Equitites had the resources, to run the team after what happened on Wall Street.

So the Mets come together. Their bright young pitching staff arrives simultaneously. Older veterans hit, younger newcomers learn to hit. And the beleaguered General Manager boldly makes free agent deals and trades.

Voila, woe-be-gone. The Mets were in the World Series, and look where they are now a month into this new season.

Alderson and his people knew what they were doing. Investing in pitching, in the farm system. And what a job in the draft.

Matt Harvey was a first round pick, who carried the team for a year and a half, and had to come back from elbow surgery.

Jacob deGrom came fast, after being a 9th round draft pick.

Noah Syndegaard was a lst round pick, who came in a trade with Toronto.

Zack Wheeler was a number 1-who came from the Giants, and is on the comeback trail from surgery.

Steven Matz was a 2nd round pick and is a fixture in that rotation.

In the everyday lineup, outfielder Mike Conforto was a lst round pick. Catcher Kevin Plawecki was a late lst round comp pick. Luca Duda grew up on the job after being taken in the 7th round. David Wright, last of the old guard, was a lst round pick.

Of course there are stars from other teams. Curtis Granderson came across the street from the Yankees and is rock solid. And Yoenis Cespedes, supposed to be a 1-year pennant race rental last year, has found a home and signed a multi-year deal.

Even in the undrafted world they scored well. Closer Jervys Familia was not drafted, but signed to a free agent contract. Ditto for young outfielder Juan Lares, and shortstop Wilmer Flores.

It’s a pretty good team, a team that has come together, survived surgeries, a bad drug suspension, and is really a team with its future ahead of it. Much different than the team crosstown, the Yankees.

So as the Padres play the Mets in this four game homestand this weekend, maybe San Diego, instead of hating all things New York, should take notes, on how Alderson and his manager Terry Collins have made this come together.

Even the New York tabloids have to be impressed. The sky isn’t falling, at least not over Citi Field, not over the Mets.

“Clippers-Vote of Confidence-Why?”

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Their NBA season came to a crashing-quick conclusion, these LA Clippers, of whom so much has been expected, but little delivered.

It ended with players bleeding from a gash on a face, ended with an ice pack on a quad, ended with a hand in a cast headed towards surgery.

Healthy or hurt, the best stars on the team have not been able to get to the finish line. This spring it was an injured quad to Blake Griffin; the broken hand to Chris Paul; the heel injury to JJ Redkick; and the blood spilled for Austin Rivers.

Steve Ballmer bought the LA Clippers, leading them out of the dark room that was the ownership of Donald Sterling. He paid 2B for a franchise that had been a joke, but whom many thought had a future.

Doc Rivers was head coach, and was given the upgrade also to Presidetn of Basketball Operations.

Ballmer opened his checkbook again to keep big center DeAndre Jordan, after taking on contract extensions for Blake Griffin, and inheriting the deal for Chris Paul.

A big three to rival most anybody in the NBA. 3-superstars, who play together.

But nothing has ever come together for the other team at the Staples Center. The Clippers have had good seasons, but not postseasons that went deep into spring.

They may want to see themselves as the replacement for the heritage that used to be Lakers basketball, but no one feels that way. Not the fans in the LA market; not the media; and surely no one inside the Staples Center, where retired Lakers jerseys and championship banners are everywhere.

Rivers has had 3-full seasons to find the additional parts. He hasn’t gotten the job done. The bench parts just haven’t been consistent. Finding the right complimentary pieces to add to his big three, have not happened.

Having good regular seasons is fine, but playing into late May or June is what it should be all about.

Now the Clippers have a different type of problem. Not with the tacky ownership that was Sterling, nor the turnover of coaches, or the constant defection of players, nor playing in the dirty-dingy Sports Arena.

No, they are capped out. The big thred count 64M-against the 827M-salary cap, and the big question is how to find additional players to come to LA who can make a difference. Hasn’t happened yet, might never happen.

Maybe Ballmer and Rivers really do need to think about a mega trade.
Griffen to Oklahoma City for soon to be free-agent Kevin Durant. Maybe Paul to the Knicks for unhappy Carmelo Anthony.

It’s pretty tough to be in the NBA West, with what Golden State has become, whom San Antonio was and still is, and how Oklahoma City has arrived as a force. Being a winner is no longer enough.

The Clippers have gotten to a plateau, and just cannot get off it. Giving votes of confidence from owner to coach, coach to players is nice. Winning in postseason would be nicer.

The Clippers may need to subtract so they can add further.

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“Trusting Laremy Tunsil”

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Well that was some kind of NFL draft weekend for Laremy Tunsil, the All American offensive tackle from Mississippi.

From the top of the mountain, into the gutter, and now trying to build a bridge to get his credibility back.

Tunsil was viewed as a top three NFL draft prospect going in. He tumbled all the way to 13th on the board, treated as if he was radio-active, till the Miami Dolphins selected him mid-round.

It was 24-hours of furor over the Ole Miss left tackle. The night before the draft, his stepfather filed a lawsuit asking for damages from a domestic abuse case from a year ago, a reported Tunsil fight with the man, with the player saying he was protecting his mother from further abuse from tthe husband.

When you hear of these type of stories, right before the draft, you expect the words ‘setup- or ‘smear’ or ‘agendas’ to follow.

But then minutes before the draft began on Friday, came the social media revelation, a video of Tunsil wearing a Gas Mask, smoking a bong, ingesting drugs, and pulling it off his head and then smiling.

And a day after the draft, Tunsil posted comments he had asked for and was given cash by an Ole Miss assistant to help pay his bills. Nothing like throwing your Alma Mater under the NCAA bus.

You’d thought a skunk had gotten loose in the draft room, as NFL clubs ran as fast as they could away from the left tackle. What a nitemare too in the post-draft interview sessions, two of which were cut short and one cancelled completely.

Of course Tunsil’s track record at Ole Miss left tons of questions too. Yes he was the cornerstone of quality players who have helped bring the Rebels back to some form of SEC-and national prominence. But there was a rep he was really lazy and not dedicated to his craft. Reports surfaced he was a Mama’s boy, spoiled and believing he was entitled.

But the track record also included him being in the hotel room with teammatge Robert Nkemdiche, drinking, with possible drugs, when the defensive tackle fell out of a hotel window onto the street below. Nkemdiche did not suffer injuries, but his reputation took such a hit, that he came tumbling down the draft board too, till the Arizona Cardinals took him at the end of the first round.

Tunsil of course sat out the first 7-games of the Ole Mis sseason under an NCAA suspension. This for possible involvement with an agent. This for illegal use of 3-rented cards. This for possible acceptance of a token fee. This included allegations he wasn’t forthcoming with NCAA lawyers when they showed up on the Oxford campus.

The Dolphins say they knew of the Gas Mask video, and say that incident was in 2014, and that Tunsil never failed an Ole Miss drug test, and tested clean at the NFL combine.

In the big picture, maybe he is just an immature kid. Maybe the Dolphins have stolen a player who will grow up and turn out to be a star in the league, based on his physcial talents. Mlaybe putting him into an NFL culture with coaches and veteran players to guide him will help. Of course the Dolphins mailing address is close to South Beach, and you know what that party atmosphere is like.

And it’s not like the Dolphins haven’t had experience dealing with player issues a-la-Richie Incognito-Jonathon Martin and the Hazing Club.

Or maybe Tunsil is just one dumb-bad dude who doesn’t get it. Hey that stuff happens every year Just ask the Cleveland Browns about the Johnny Football experience with last year’s knucklehead quarterback Johnny Manziel.

The kid cost himself alot of money, cost himself all his credibility. But that never stopped NFL teams before, why should it stop Miami.

New reality show coming, Trusting Tunsil. Don’t know if it will rival ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’. Stay tuned though.

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